Melancholy of a swordsman
by Berserk1
Summary: After a life of excitement and adventure, a regular journey seems so plain and boring. Sometimes I wish I kept my mouth shut... Lloyd's POV
1. Same old routine

Disclaimer: characters used are property of Namco and not of said author, etc etc yada yada

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_ Too easy, the only way to describe fighting the common bandit or roaming monster now a days. After defeating Mithos, the average foe just wasn't a challenge. Over time dullness sets in and you find yourself almost standing there pitying the poor wretch as you see that glimmer of hope in their eye, the hope of victory and living to see tomorrow. You could almost say it's cruel to see that glimmer fade away as you parry their attack and cut them down. Some of their faces still haunt me to this day. Sheena tells me it's only natural to feel this way as I've become so strong and almost nothing can provide a challenge anymore, the fate of a warrior she calls it. Always searching for a new rival and to increase my strength but with the world restored there are no more foes, no more challenges. No more of a reason to try. Sheena would spar with me and at time's I would let her win, I grew fond of that smile she gave as she scolded me that I had been slacking and would later make me work like a dog to hone my skills. The truth is I've grown terribly bored, worse than normal. Several months into our journey for the exspheres and already I am looking at our progress with a grimace. Less than half of Sylvarant alone scoured and only a small handful of the gems in our bag, Martel end my nightmare, this is going to take forever. I put the idea out of using the Rheiards but the hurt look Sheena gave told me walking was a better idea. I still wonder what she got upset over; they would have made our trip go that much quicker right? I'll figure it out someday, one way or other things always work themselves out. Our latest lead brings us to Triet, the land of dry throats and uncomfortable shoes. I hope my poster isn't on that inn's wall still but with my luck…_

THUNK!

'Ow…' _great, I walk into said wall, lost in my thoughts again. Lloyd you have to start watching where you are going…and stop referring to yourself in third person, it's getting scary._

'Lloyd, you have to watch where you are going. Honestly, how you managed to defeat Mithos is beyond me.' _Déjà vu. Sarcasm noted. Sheena loved to tease me on my clumsy ways although I find it, what did professor call it? Ertronic?_

'Oh yes great Sheena, master of balance and pitfalls.' _Me:1 you:0, her faced twisted into that scowl Zelos told me about so much….and damn he got it down exactly. It is very scary._

'Let's just find an Inn and rest, I'm tired and I want to have a look at your head and see if it needs a few more lumps before dinner.' _She better be joking…the professor gave me way too many last time I saw her. I told her I would pay for that vase I broke, not like it really was over two-hundred years old.  
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_ Checking in, unpacking bags and drawing up my ingenious device to separate the room; a collapsing curtain with my window rod, hope dad didn't mind, we change into our night attire although I find myself drawn to Sheena's silhouette as she changed. Zelos must be giggling like mad somewhere for his curse he put on me. Knocking my head lightly to gather sense I look up to see said silhouette staring at me with a smile._

'Well doesn't that look like fun? I will have to try that sometime.' _She tosses me an ice pack for my earlier head injury, to which I still didn't notice if my poster was there. Note to self: check later on tonight. _'Lloyd, I'm going to get something to drink from the bar below, anything you want?' _There's that smile again. I swear, the more I see it, the more I don't want it to go away._

'No thanks I'm fine. Be careful.' _Like she needed it, the girl could easily flip you over and break your arm in one motion. Not that I've had that happen to me, Zelos on the other hand…_

'Aww, you're worried. That's so sweet. I promise, just for you Lloyd.' _And with a wink she left. Suddenly I felt cold but I had a nice thick shirt on. Hand woven by dad for the winters with my 'elevator' setup of buttons and a red and blue pastel coloring, as much as I wished to make changes I didn't want to upset him if he ever saw it. Now's not the time to lose yourself, I have to look over the notes I took to find this stockpile of exspheres my contact told me. A local friend I made when we last came through here driving out the desians fully from the region. Told me he would do whatever he could to help our goal and to this day he hasn't let me down. The paper he gave me said that in a cave about two miles north of Triet held roughly several dozen crates of the stones. How he got that number I'm not going to question, he hasn't given me a reason to doubt him, yet. Before I could even turn the next page I feel a pair of arms wrap around me and give me a hard squeeze. Looking up I saw it was smiley._

'If you squeeze any harder I won't be able to finish my train of thought.' _She giggles and makes a comment on me thinking was cute. I swear these past few months she's really opened up more, acting less shy and more like someone I could easily get lost talking to about anything. She really was a great friend._

'What's wrong Lloyd?' _Unknown to me, my face gave a slight frown that she quickly picked up on. Why was it that I frowned whenever I said the word friend in the same sentence pertaining to Sheena? _

'It's nothing. I promise. Just trying to plan our next move and I'm drawing a big blank.' _Please, by the goddess don't be as clever as you are beautiful. Wait where did that come from? She again wraps her arms around me and tells me that she's here for me. Great now my face is hotter than the sun and the moment she lets go I'm never going to here the end of it. But surprisingly she holds onto me a bit longer than usual and I find myself not wanting her to let go of the embrace my arms acting either out of instinct or unknown urging, I put my arms around her as well bringing her closer. Unfortunately I was a bit too strong and she comes crashing down on me, my face pushed right into the bed. Yeah she definitely gives Colette a run for her money in klutz. She stammers out a string of apologies and turns crimson, a color that she pulls off very well might I add. Giving me a smile she closes the curtain and curls up under the covers. Putting my bag away I turn in as well, relishing her warmth from our brief embrace and piecing together this giant puzzle that has been constantly mixed around in my head._

'Lloyd, you loveable goof.' _Talking in her sleep, one of the many cute things about her. Opening the curtain I gently stroke her cheek admiring how lucky I was to have picked the one person I related to most to go with me on my journey._

'Good night Sheena, sweet dreams.' _She smiles again and my heart hurts a little as the idea of curling up next to her randomly pops in my thought process. I rest my head down but the rest of the night my head was filled with what ifs and maybes. I didn't sleep well._

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'Lloyd, remind me to give you and your 'contact' a smack hard on the head after this is over.' _Wanting to give a smart remark to counter I had to keep focus as my eyes watched our ambushers slowly encircle us, blades drawn, murder in their eyes and cackles in their throats. I really need to review information better._

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That's the first chapter in what I hope to be a good run as I put pen to paper an idea that's been nagging my head. Told from Lloyd's POV, I always like seeing how he looks at things and interprets different events and I will do my best to not make him into the oblivious guy everyone makes him out to be. That there is a method behind his madness, so to speak . Much to my dismay my only usable source is Microsoft Office 2007, which makes everything cramped and kind of ugly  but we work with the tools we have. Hope you enjoyed the first chapter and the many others to come. CIAO!


	2. A smelly old cave

Hello again! My deepest apologies for not updating sooner. The idea gremlin bit and i started another story and ignored my other one. Putting it back in it's cage I'm free to do another update and that is what I've done! I thank those who reviewed and put this story on their watch list. It means alot knowing people want to know that you will continue your work. Without further adieu let's get this started!

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_To say I awoke in a bad mood would be to say that Zelos is a pious man. What should have been a simple discussion and relieving a group of men of their exspheres by either paying for them or just outright convincing them to hand them over for a good cause, ended up as an ambush that landed the both of us sprawled out in a cell. Apparently my 'contact' had been among these men for sometime. Waiting long enough to earn my trust just so he could send me false intelligence and steal my Cruxis Crystal. Mithos must be rolling over in his grave for being defeated by such a clumsy kid. _

_We were supposed to make a trade of money and supplies to a small group of smugglers for the exspheres but it turned out to be a trap. After a brief skirmish they quickly cornered us and forced us to surrender. I could have taken them but I didn't want to risk Sheena's safety. She later told me that when she saw that it was a trap it would have worked better for us to look from the inside. The cell they put us in had a simple dirt floor and a metallic door in a cave wall. The air was stale and the torches on the wall gave very little visibility. Thankfully some of Sheena's cards weren't discovered when we had our gear taken and were able to provide us some more light after a brief summoning of Aska. I opted for using Efreet and blowing a hole in the wall and making a grand escape but Sheena just told me to stop reading so many comic books and to use this moment to gather information. It still eludes me on where Sheena stored those cards...and I dare not ask for fear of Zelos grade punishment._

'We have no idea what these men plan to do, how they knew where we would be and most of all why they are posing as just a bunch of simple smugglers when they could just establish a larger base of operations. So Lloyd, what is your plan? How do you think we will get out?'

'It's a work in progress...' _To be honest I'm completely stumped. This situation is just getting worse and wor-_

'I know what you're thinking and I want you to stop it right now. Don't give me that look! I know you were just blaming yourself for this and how it's getting worse and worse!' _How she is able to read me so easily is scary and also amazing. _

'Well this cell at least has shown us that these guys have been expecting our coming for quite some time and that it seems to be their main base of operations from all the hardware I saw as they escorted us here.'

'Amazing Lloyd, if you keep up that kind of work you may just become the kind of man my grandfather thinks you to be.' _What the heck did she mean by that? Why should I care what her grandfather thinks of me? Sure he is a good man and all but what is so important about his and my relation? I roll my eyes at her and smirk when she gives me a hard punch in the arm. Say what you want about her appearance but after beating up Zelos for all those years she has a cruel right hook._

'If I just had my swords and my crystal, I could break open these bars and get down to business.' _I heard Sheena let out a sigh and say something about that's why we haven't escaped already. Sitting down to think we hear a series of gears turning and the door opens. A man in robes walks in and suddenly the air turns a bit more sour, leaving my throat in a permanent gag. Sheena managed to quickly un-summon Aska before it was discovered, best not let the enemy know we have a means to escape like she said. The robes looked a pale green with gold trim. He looked to be fair health but nothing much else as his face was concealed by his hood._

'Welcome honored guests to my halls. I do apologize for these circumstances but precautions had to be taken. You my dear Lloyd, are quite the violent one. Lashing out at others, shouting facades of justice and how all life has meaning. These are quite hurtful messages to my people and I do would appreciate if you kept your simple minded mouth shut.' _Just who the hell does he think he is? Acting as if he knows me! Sheena just sits silently drinking in every word this bastard spews. Talking about how he would like to release us but fears that there would be a retribution. Hell yes there would! I'm about to lose my temper when Sheena puts a hand on my shoulder to calm me down._

'Ok you said your part, now it is our turn. What exactly do you plan to do with us? You have our weapons and equipment. Lloyd's cruxis crystal and swords. What reason is there for us to live? Unless you need us for more.'

'Ah, very perceptive my dear, I was correct in thinking you were more than just a pretty face_. _Very well then. As you can tell we are keeping you alive for another reason. We are more than just a group of smugglers and thieves. We are in fact I.

'Say that again and lessen up on the crazy this time. Ok?' _Sheena stifles a giggle and tells me to just listen to what he has to say. I cross my arms and let out a slow sigh._

'To put it loosely, everything here is an extension of me. I control everything you see.' _He takes off his hood to reveal a pale face. His eyes a crimson red and pulling back his sleeves I see several ex-spheres jutting from his arms, each with that blue glow to show they were powered. _'The trinkets you had on you in your bag. They will make much better use with me.' _That bastard! Using someone's sacrifice for his personal gain! Sheena called out to me but I couldn't hear her I was already to my feet and charging him. I was within arm reach when I suddenly hit the ground. I felt a strong grip on my ankles and looking down I saw a hand outstretched from the earth. '_Tsk tsk, now let's not get too hasty. My associates wouldn't like it if I was hurt. They can be quite protective.' _Several skeletal figures rose from the dirt as well as the one holding my leg in place. Their bones slightly fleshed out with muscle tendons and glowing fire in their eyes but their frame easily misleads their strength. They were on a whole different level from the undead we've fought before. Taking me up in one arm I was thrown back toward Sheena, skidding along the ground only to have an iron-weight push my head down further. '_Oh my well this has been fun and all but I must be off. Do try to behave and my dear, if you are going to use your summoning arts do be aware of how many eyes will be watching.' _He opened the door and turned around one more time and gave us a wiry smile. _'My name is Nagash, do remember it for future convenience. I hate repeating myself.' _As quickly as they appeared the ghouls were gone. Dust and bones scattered where they once stood in place. Sheena just sat there mouth agape in shock. I spat the dirt from my mouth and attempted to shake her out of her stupor. She began to tremble slightly and looked at me pale-faced._

'Sheena, HEY! Snap out of it! It's ok, he's gone. Wake up!' _She finally comes to and grabs onto me sending my worry meters to go into overdrive because she normally didn't get like this since she overcame her fear of Volt._

'Lloyd...we are in big trouble.' _Great, another adventure and another crazy villain. Sometimes I think I bring this upon myself..._

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Chapter two down! Many others to go! Hope you enjoyed it and I'll update again when I finish the next one! Ciao!_  
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	3. Dance with the Danse Macbre!

Hello everyone and welcome back to another chapter of my new series. I thank everyone who read the last update and those who reviewed. Without further mindless babbling here is the next chapter. Enjoy

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_Finding myself at a loss for ideas for escape was something that didn't normally happen. You'd think that after being locked in a prison cell for the umpteenth time I would have a series of escape plans ready for any situation. Unfortunately this wasn't the case, unknown enemy count, almost no idea who this Nagash guy is other than that he can call upon corpses to fight for him and no idea where our equipment is being stored. The situation goes from bad to worse to please cut us a break. I tried to remember the layout of the cave system as we were escorted in but there were too many twists and turns for me to effectively recount. I noticed Sheena drawing up several symbols on the ground and muttering some kind of chant. She looks over at me and gives me a wry smile. _

'Just watch.' _Why did I have the feeling this wouldn't end well. No sooner had I finished my thought I saw Sheena summon Undine and almost immediately the undead sentinels in the ground rose to challenge the summon spirit. _'Flood the ground!' _A torrent of water filled the cell and several of the undead were dashed against the walls while the remainder struggled to escape the ground, the water pressure forcing them down. A second summoning card flared out of her hand and now Celsius came forth. Now I get what she's doing! _'Ok, freeze the ground!' _With the ground frozen, no more undead could rise from the earth and those that were out were now stuck in the ice._

_I would have went over to Sheena to praise her clever idea but unfortunately I was frozen in the ground as well. Sheena's feet were unaffected by the summon spirit magic which explains the symbols she's standing on. To cut our celebration short a much larger sentinel erupted through the ground, shattering the ice completely. I went to move and found I was still stuck, the chunk of earth I was standing on still frozen. I struggled to free my legs and looked over to Sheena in hopes she had Efreet ready to thaw me out but from her stagger I could tell she was exhausted from the strain. I felt myself lift off the ground as I was gripped tightly by the bone golem and thrown to the cell door. Pain roared through my body as I felt a few ribs crack and one of my shoulders go limp. Still my feet were trapped as the giant grabbed the ground beneath me as well when he threw me. Thankfully I saw a skeleton trying to claw it's way out of the ground and lifted both my legs and brought them crashing down on it's skull which broke the ice._

'Lloyd watch out!' _I look up just in time to roll out of the way of a slam from the golem and in that same moment found a way out of our cell.. Missing me, the golem smashed into the wall. Lifting it's hands it swung again but this time I stood in front of the door. With a loud clang the door fell of it's hinges and fresh air rushed into the room._

'Sheena! Summon Efreet fast!' _I knew the strain multiple summons would put on her but we were left with no choice. She nods wearily and pulls out another summoning card and starts her chant. Using my good arm I threw a few rocks to keep the golem on me. An inferno soon enveloped it and in turn it let out a low groan then withered to dust. _'That was incredible. You really are becoming a pro with your summoning arts.' _She tosses me a weak smile and stumbles, catching her before she fell I noticed her face was flushed. _'We have to get you out of here, your face is completely red with a fever.' _Hearing her call me a doofuss at least reminded me that she was in good spirits. Half-way down the halls I saw my swords kept in a room along with some of our supplies. Giving her a few apple gels Sheena started to show a regain in stamina. Good she's all better now we can...SMACK!_

'I told you! When we get out of here! Dammit Lloyd!' _Yep, she was back to normal. I kinda deserved that smack too. I rubbed my head where her hand caved in part of my skull. No permanent damage meant she went easy on me but now I begin to see why Zelos acts like he does, too many Sheena grade slaps can rattle a brain._

'You didn't have to hit so hard, I got us out of here didn't I?' _She opens one of our packs and pulls out some of her home made salve. I could tell she was still a bit mad as she made it pertinent that the salve was applied to my body with a little extra force._

'After ignoring your intuition and getting us caught.'

'At least we found the smugglers.'

'You idiot! This goes way beyond mere smuggling. Didn't you see all those reanimated bodies and the ex-spheres implanted in that guy's arms?' _Ok, ok. So I forgot a few minute details. You did scramble my brains after all._

'I've been meaning to ask you, why did you freeze up when that guy told us his name? Nagging or something right?' _Once again, I'll blame my memory loss on the slap. Really. I just can't remember it._

"Nagash. And yeah seeing him alone means that this goes much farther than a bunch of guys looking to make a quick buck.'

'So what's his story? He seemed to know that you could summon also.' _It's like one giant puzzle and Colette is scattering the pieces constantly. I can't get anything to fit._

'We don't really have the time to discuss this. Chances are someone heard the door slam open and ran for help. Our plan should be to get out of here. Plain and simple, just the way you like it.' _She applied another handful of the goo to my shoulder now and pushed a little hard. I don't care how tough you are but this stuff STINGS. _'Stop fidgeting. You have to stand still or the salve won't cover everything with you moving around. And don't give me that it hurts alot. You have to be a man about this kind of stuff or else grandfather will never accept you.' _I look over at her confused as she quickly covers her mouth and hastily applies the final dabs. Wrapping my body in a few bits of extra cloth, she gives me a pat on the back. It hurt, alot. _'Sorry I don't have any lollipops for you little boy.'

'Don't be. You did a great job nurse Sheena.' _She gives me a final hard pat to get me back for calling her a nurse. She always did hate being called that when she helped Raine heal the group after a large battle. Zelos would always go off on a tangent about how she would look in a nurse outfit. Putting my swords in their sheathe, I felt a bit naked without my ex-sphere in my hand to be honest. I had to become stronger so I wouldn't feel the difference when I finally fight without it. _

'There's the exit! Come on we're home free.' _I watched Sheena head towards the mouth of the cave and chased after her. Something didn't feel right, almost like were let out on purpose. Not two steps from the exit the ground beneath her gave way and a mob of more undead reached up to grab her. _'Honestly. I don't know what I did to deserve this!'

'This isn't the time for jokes!' _I reached for her and myself was thrown to the side of the hallway. _

'I had hoped it wouldn't be like this.' _I turned to see Nagash and several of his living minions. He reached down and picked Sheena up by the wrist and the expression on her face showed he was hurting her._

'Let her go you monster.' _He looks at me with an expression of pure enjoyment._

'Monster you say? Well now that does bring back some old memories. No little boy, I'm far from a monster.' _He throws Sheena to the ground and walks past her toward me as his followers circled her. _'You want her back so much? Come and get her.'

'I'll make you pay for hurting her.'

_By now the pain in my chest subsided enough for me to fight but my arm was still in no shape to fight. It's not like I have a choice though. I run past Nagash and swing one sword into the first man I could reach, felling him in cold blood before he could even turn to regard me. Bringing up my sword to quickly parry a stab, I kicked out and felt a nose break beneath my boot. A quck slash ended another as I dodged several more swipes and punches. I felt pain in my arm again only to see a knife exit my shoulder blade. An elbow strike then caved in his eyes but not before his dagger struck out once more glancing off my waist. I ran the last one through the stomach and shivered as his eyes rolled over in death. I made sure Sheena was ok but soon heard a slow clapping._

'Well done Lloyd, well done. I would expect no less mercy from the man who slaughtered countless half-elves and people in his regeneration journey. Such ruthlessness. Such cold savagery. You are truly what your file says.'

'Enough games Nagash. It's time we ended this.' _He just lets out a soft chuckle, the nerve of this guy!_

'Games? I guess you could say, yes, this was a game. I had been merely testing your abilities without your little crystal. Now that I have my results I can depart eager to study the results.' _He holds up my cruxis crystal and I see it now turned completely black. As well as the ones that were implanted in his body, they are all jet black._

'Lloyd, we have to get out of here. This isn't the time to be fighting a battle we wouldn't win.' _Sheena. Sometimes it's your voice of reason that's kept me alive for so long._

'You should listen to your little friend, you would just end up a pile of meat.' _He turns his back to me and strolls away. That's it. I can't take his taunting anymore. I run toward him ignoring the flaring pain as well as Sheena's cry out for me to stop. I catch up to Nagash and stab him through the back. _

'Take that you sick bastard!' _It wasn't two seconds before my blade exited his body that his arms swung around and knocked me several feet onto the ground._

'If you so insist, I'll indulge your blood lust for a short while.' _Nagash pulls out a sword with more black ex-spheres on the pommel and points it toward his mens' corpses. _'Arise my soldiers! Stand and fight! INVOCATION!' _The bodies twitched and dragged themselves upright, grabbing their fallen weapons. Several fell apart as the cuts I gave them left their bodies too fragile to continue fighting. _

'You disgusting monster...' _It took alot to make Sheena disgusted, from what I could see this man topped the list on freaks. The reanimated bodies lunged at us but were easily sidestepped, their blows clumsily falling short of their mark._

'No, no. This won't do at all.' _His sword began to glow a greenish, black hue. _'DANSE MACABRE!' _I couldn't see anything leave the sword so I guess it was just a focus for the spells. I turned to face the undead again but found three staring at me face to face and a sudden sharp jolt as another knife entered and left my sides. A fist hit me square in the chest and my breath caught in my throat as I fell. I painfully watched as Sheena could do little better as they were keeping up with her agility. No, I'm mistaken. They were faster! Nagash simply walked up to me and put his foot sternly down on my back, making me see stars from the agony. With a snort, he turned and left us battered and bleeding on the cave floor. I looked toward Sheena again and watched in pain as she tried to crawl to my help before a skeleton burrowed out in front of her and stomped down on her._

'Stop it! She won't be able to take any more!' _My voice cracked in panic, the thought of Sheena in great pain made my heart race and mind go blank on how to solve this dilemma. Nagash stopped walking and turned toward me one last time._

'I spare your lives not because of pity or remorse. You are but pawns and I require you to fill your roles before you see an end to all this.' _With that, the skeletons turned to ash and blew away in the wind. I dragged myself to her and fumbled through the pack for any kind of bandages to help close up her injuries. Nagash was long gone by the time I managed to stop the bleeding._

'I'm sorry Lloyd, this is my fault.'

'What? How can you say such a thing dummy?'

'Says the guy who charged an enemy unknown to his abilities or skills.'

'Well I'm glad to see that your sense of humor came out of this unharmed.' _She playfully punched my arm and we both winced in pain, laughing at the other's painful irony. Sheena slowly stopped laughing and looked at me with a pained expression._

'I should have gone with you. If we both struck at the same time then we maybe would have faired better. Instead I stood back and watched you get your butt handed to you and let a bunch of bones make quick work of me.' _I let out a slow sigh and smiled at her._

'And if you had charged with me then who would have made sure to rub in the fact I didn't think? You have to be there to help me see that sometimes my methods don't work. I don't want to become a bad influence on you.'

_She burst out laughing and hugged me. Whispering a thanks she flicked my forehead seeing me in a state of euphoria from the momentary hug._

'Well with our ex-spheres gone and our bodies all beat up, where to?'

_I had to think for a little while before I knew what I had to do, although I didn't like the option._

'We need to talk to the professor, maybe she and Genis can help us understand Nagash and how to best confront him next time.'

_Sheena noticed the mild panic on my face and softly smiled._

'Thinking of the eraser missiles again?'

'They terrify me more than anything Mithos could.'

'Where do you think they are?'

'Last I heard, Genis was studying at the Sybak institute to help better relations with humans and Half-elves. Maybe he can from there lead us to the professor.' _Sheena stood up with a mild amount of discomfort and gave me a big smile. _'What? What's so funny?'

'Looks like you're going to be quite busy from now on. No time to lay around and getting fat. Lots of training for the coming fights and no slacking! My Mizuhoan training regime is going to get you in top shape so next time we see Nagash, you won't get embarrassed. Maybe now you won't be so bored too.'

_Great just what I need, a bodyache and a headache. Martel, why do you scorn me so? I guess I should've just been content with normal bandits. Why was I such a magnet for the strange and demented people in the world?_


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